Open Hands Legal Services,Inc.

Open Hands Legal Services to Award First Annual Outstanding Volunteer Award!

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:23:50 +0000

Open Hands is pleased to announce that it will award its First Annual Outstanding Volunteer Award on July 11, 2013 at the Evening Volunteer Appreciation. Open Hands is proud to celebrate the extraordinary volunteers without whom we could not do our work. From counseling low-income tenants in Queens to drafting contracts for budding entrepreneurs or translating for elderly Chinese immigrants in the East Village, the range of our volunteers’ skills and efforts are vast and the blessings they bring are wide-reaching.

Below please find the Outstanding Volunteer Award Nomination Form. The Outstanding Volunteer Award will be announced and presented at the Volunteer Appreciation Event on Thursday, July 11, 2013 at Legend’s Pub, 6 W 33rd St #1 New York 10001,from 6-8 P.M.

Fill out the online form.

Immigration Law Institute: Immigrant Rights Training in partnership with Christian Legal Society, Hope for New York, World Relief Legal Support Center for Immigrant Legal Services

admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:11:11 +0000

Join us for a two-day practical skills training program designed for attorneys who want
to understand what immigration law is all about, particularly the law as it applies to
low-income and undocumented immigrants living in New York City. Experienced
faculty will provide an overview of immigration law and will discuss naturalization and
immigrant rights, among other things.

Other topics you will learn about include:
• Legislative update on immigration reform
• Family-based immigration
• The intersection of criminal law and immigration law
• Open Hands New Volunteer training

Who Should Attend. This comprehensive program will benefit attorneys and other
professionals interested in immigration law, particularly those interested in or working
with pro bono immigrant clients. New and existing Open Hands Legal Services
volunteer attorneys, law students, public interest attorneys and non-profit organization
staff will all benefit from this program.

Register Today! Register today and reserve your seat. Space is limited! Early bird rate
(only $30!) ends on May 10. Scholarships are available for all qualifying individuals;
please email info@openhandslegalservices.org for more information.

MCLE Credits. 7.5 Total Credits pending
Appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys as well as new and experienced Open Hands Legal Services volunteers.

admin — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:03:04 +0000

Income Data Shows Widening Gap Between New York City’s Richest and Poorest

admin — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:18:22 +0000

Nearly 1.7 million city residents were officially classified as poor, or with an income of less than $18,530 for a family of three. Some 750,000 were subsisting on less than half the poverty level.

In Manhattan, the disparity was even starker. The lowest fifth made $9,681, while the highest took home $391,022. The wealthiest fifth of Manhattanites made more than 40 times what the lowest fifth reported, a widening gap (it was 38 times, the year before) surpassed by only a few developing countries, including Namibia and Sierra Leone.

Click to read the entire article

An Invitation to Defending Public Housing Residents in NYCHA Administrative Termination Proceedings

admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:56:22 +0000

The NLG-NYC Anti-Racism Committee, together with the student chapters at Cardozo and CUNY School of Law, invites you to join us:

Fighting the City as Landlord:

Defending Public Housing Residents in NYCHA Administrative Termination Proceedings

Training/CLE

Thursday, October 4, 2012 6 p.m. to 9:15 pm

Cardozo School of Law 55 Fifth Ave., Room 424 New York, NY

Interested in learning how to defend public housing residents in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) administrative termination of tenancy (i.e. eviction) proceedings? How about organizing to change these proceedings? Yes? Yes! Join us for this training, open to all lawyers, legal workers, law students, and organizers!

Every year, tens of thousands of public housing residents are at risk of losing their affordable housing through NYCHA termination proceedings. Almost none of these residents have any form of representation. This CLE will enable lawyers, law students, and legal workers to learn the basics of these proceedings and to begin providing such representation to public housing residents in the future.

Speakers/trainers include:

Wasim Lone, Director of Housing Services, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES)
Afua Atta-Mensah, Supervising Attorney, Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project (HOPP) at the Urban Justice Center
Avery McNeil and Joe Wong , 3L Law Students, New York University School of Law

CLE Credit will be available for this event!*

2 credits for Professional Practice and 1 credit for Skills

RSVP for CLE credit: http://doodle.com/vwgnbaqf7se673yx

RSVP w/out CLE credit: http://doodle.com/eds3yhytyvhvpb92

Cost: $45 for attorneys, free for law students, legal workers, and organizers (donationrecommended)

Attorneys with financial hardship, please email NLGAntiRacismCLE@gmail.com your request to waive the cost, with a brief explanation.

**Snacks will be served!**

Open Hands Legal Services New Volunteer Training

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:04:41 +0000

Open Hands Legal Services New Volunteer Training

When: Saturday, October 13, 2012

Time: 1- 3:45 PM

(Registration begins at 12:30 PM)Where: Father’s Heart Ministries
531 East 12th Street, New York, New York 10009

Cost: FREE

MCLE Credits Pending: 1.5 Skills, 1 Ethics

Appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys as well as new and experienced Open Hands Legal Services volunteers.

Please send an email to info@openhandslegalservices.org by Saturday, October 8, 2012 to receive a registration form.

Volunteer training is a prerequisite for Open Hands Legal Services legal aid desk volunteers. This course is FREE to those who volunteer with Open Hands Legal Services by March 1, 2013. Volunteers may serve at one of the following legal aid desks: Father’s Heart Ministries (East Village), All Angels’ Church – Our Place Cafe (Upper West Side), New Life Community Development Center (Elmhurst, Queens) and Defy Ventures.

Scenes from the Legal Aid Desk at Father’s Heart Ministries

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:02:00 +0000

A busy day of service

Administrative Relief Open Clinic for DREAMers

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:27:31 +0000

An estimated 100,000 undocumented Asian immigrants are eligible for “Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). A new Department of Homeland Security directive, DACA gives eligible undocumented youth a two-year pause from the threat of deportation and an opportunity to secure a work permit. For many, this will be the first opportunity to legally work and live in this country.

On June 15th, 2012, President Obama announced that his administration will cease deporting undocumented immigrant youth who grew up in the United States and who meet a number of requirements (referred to as DREAMers). The government will also offer them a chance to apply for work permits.

To assist these DREAMers, KALAGNY has partnered with the MinKwon Center for Community Action to offer a series of day-long pro bono clinics. ( We expect to hold clinics every Saturday for the next 4 weeks. )Details: Administrative Relief Open Clinic for DREAMersDate: Saturday, 09/15/2012; 09/22/2012; 09/29/2012 from 11 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Korean Community Services (KCS) office, 35-56 159th Street, Flushing, NY 11358 (Cross streets: 159th St. between Northern Blvd and 35th Ave.; located a couple blocks away from the LIRR’s Broadway stop) (map).

Volunteer Shifts:

1st half: 11:00AM – 3:00PM
2nd half: 3:00PM – 8:00 PM

For attorneys who have not yet attended a training, CLEs will be available in midtown:

Details: CLE Training
Upcoming dates: 09/18, 09/25 from 7pm-8pm
Location: Proskauer Rose LLP, 11 Times Square, Room 1800A, New York, NY 10036

Those interested in volunteering at either our Saturday clinics or during the week, can e-mail suejean.jhun@minkwon.orgwith their preferred training date, clinic shifts (dates/times), and any language capacity in Korean or Mandarin.This Open Clinic provides a great opportunity for volunteer attorneys and law students to give back to the Asian American community by providing basic legal consultation and assistance in filing deferred action and employment authorization for DREAMers.

Volunteer attorneys and law students will provide one time consultation and no follow up is necessary. MinKwon Center will be responsible for follow up consultation and further assistance. The MinKwon Center will take appointments for consultations, but the event will also be open for walk-in clients. (For future clinics, we will be providing training to volunteers.)

Volunteer Spotlight & Fundraising Campaign: Paul Clewell

admin — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 02:30:05 +0000

This week, your fellow volunteer Paul Clewell shares what motivates him to sacrificially give of his time and resources to Open Hands. Paul is a civil litigator and serves as Open Hands’ Volunteer Deputy Director of Ministry. In addition, he donates to Open Hands because of our unique ability to provide both legal services and spiritual support to those in need.

Of Open Hands’ work, Paul notes that “clients whose hearts are heavy with the burdens of life meet with us; we are able to sense their need for prayer and pray with and for them.” Watch him share more about this holistic support in this short video:

Through your volunteer service, you’ve seen the Lord working through Open Hands! Donations from volunteers like you are critical to allowing us to do our important work. Please join Paul in supporting Open Hands clicking here to donate today!

Join Crystal Persaud in Supporting Open Hands’ Successes!

admin — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:32:37 +0000

Open Hands is blessed with the support of over 125 volunteer who donate their time to serving our clients! This summer, we are challenging our volunteer supporters to assist Open Hands in an additional way — by raising $15,000! We are off to a strong start and are excited to spotlight volunteer-donor Crystal Persaud and highlight her personal reasons for donating to Open Hands.

Open Hands’ clients face real legal issues and without Open Hands, they would not be resolved. Crystal is a real estate attorney in New York City and she donates to Open Hands because she values the ability to work one-on-one with individuals to resolve pressing legal issues. Listen to Crystal share a particularly impactful client experience in the video below.

Open Hands is on the move! Our clients are demanding our services and we are doing as much as we can to meet their needs. In 2012, we have already served 150 clients, double the amount of clients we served in the same time period in 2011; provided over $24,000 worth of pro bono legal services to clients, expanded to three partner sites, assisted clients in over 30 housing matters, and assisted clients in over 20 public benefits matters!

We cannot do this important work without your financial support! Are you eager to take an active role in supporting our ministry? Our volunteer campaign is off to a strong start, but we need your help to meet our goal of $15,000. Join Crystal by making a donation today.

Click here to donate now!